A World Without - Chapter Three
Name: A World Without
Fandom: SS501 (appearances by Super Junior)
Pairings: KyuMin, 2HJ, 2YS, friendship!KyuSaeng, friendship!MinSaeng
Total Word Count: 33, 000
Chapters: 3/7 + Epilogue
Rating: PG-16
Warnings: Post-Apocalyptic themes, violence
Genre: Adventure, Romance, and a bit of Crack stirred in
Prompt: "A kiss is a lovely trick, designed by nature, to stop words when speech becomes superfluous."
Summary: 40 years after humankind was deemed to have lost one chance too many, the world is still struggling to recover from the effects of the Last War. With humans now exist after being systematically wiped out, and the powerful Order overlooking all, it looked like they would finally be able live in peace. That was before a small caravan of Healers discover something in the ruins that will turn their views on atonement and suffering for the sins of the past upside down.
A/N: This is for my bestie forever, ziippers <3 Originally a one-shot, that idea kinda...died. I'm so sorry, it hardly even relates to the prompt or anything anymore @.@;;; Hope you still like it anyways? <3 /sheepish/ Updates will be every two days. Thank you to the always amazing curionenene for betaing, ILYBB~~~ <3333
The spells on the caravan were strengthened again, and the group continued their trek through the ruins. The following morning brought them through what must have been an old playground. Despite the fact that it was HyunJoong's turn to guide the caravan and KyuJong was still recovering from his first long stint in the toxic ruins, the human joined their leader out on the driver's bench.
"I'm not all that sure you're okay to be out here," HyunJoong said, eyeing KyuJong.
The human smiled a little shakily. "Probably not...but I just wanted to look. It's...sad."
The drow nodded, eyes catching on the twisted remains of a swingset. The ghost playground was hard to bear, imagining those who had died here, all the children.
It was a relief that they couldn't see any bodies, but that didn't mean they weren't there.
"I used to live in Seoul," HyunJoong admitted.
KyuJong looked over at him. "Really?" He frowned. "It's...a little disorientating, considering you look my age, but I suppose I should be used to other races living longer by now."
"You should," the other man chuckled. "Even Joonie is older than you, and he's a child by our standards."
Nodding slowly, KyuJong looked out across the ruins again. "What was Seoul like?" he asked quietly.
"Amazing. Even though compared to today's world, it was ridiculously overpopulated and polluted...truth was, Seoul was one of the better places in the world before the war. It was a nice mix of technology and nature, and there was plenty of trees and plants. It's no wonder why so many nonhumans chose to make Seoul their home."
"Did the bombing wipe out many nonhumans as well?" KyuJong questioned.
"Of course. Plenty of our kin were in Seoul and Incheon when they hit. Although...not as much as there would have been. By the time these particular bombs hit, the Order had started to rise up and erase the human militaries. Humans became aware of our existence, and they weren't very...welcoming to any nonhuman found in their cities."
KyuJong's eyes closed. "So you were chased out?"
HyunJoong nodded. "It wasn't long before the police inspected the neighborhood I was living in. My family and I barely made it out of the city in time...if we had stayed for merely hours longer, we would have been exposed. Not all the nonhumans living there were so lucky. Many were captured, killed...and then the ones who still managed to stay hidden inside the city were wiped out when the bombs hit anyways." The drow shook his head with a sigh.
"Such a waste of life," KyuJong whispered. "On all sides."
Silence fell between them. HyunJoong was just about to suggest KyuJong go back inside the caravan before the radioactivity could cause him to relapse when the human suddenly sat up straight, gaze focused on something. Then he hopped off the driver's seat, landing in the ashes and walking across the playground.
"KyuJong," HyunJoong called warningly. "If you get yourself stuck under anything else we're not getting you back out." Even though he knew they would regardless.
The human stopped a bit off to one side, crouching down in the ashes next to what must have been a plastic slide, melted into horrific shapes by the heat of the bombs. He paused there for a moment, then got up and headed back to the caravan.
HyunJoong looked at him with one eyebrow raised as the human hopped back onto the driver's bench next to him, the horses snorting in annoyance at the human's movement.
KyuJong held something in his hands, turning it over between his fingers. When the other man's hand moved, HyunJoong could make out a tiny hairpin that could have belonged to a very young girl. The design was half-melted, but the pin itself was metal and had survived. It looked like some sort of cartoon character, though HyunJoong couldn't have been sure.
The image of a child, perhaps in her first year of elementary school, flashed through his mind. She would tuck the pin into her hair, probably the wrong way, and need it fixed by her mother before she was sent out the door to school. There were promises to pick her up at the park after classes, perhaps treat her to patbingsu.
Only she never made it that far.
HyunJoong slowly tilted his head back, looking up at the sky overhead and swallowing past the lump in his throat. He said nothing as KyuJong tucked the pin into his shirt pocket.
************************
"I think it's time we talked."
KyuJong looked up from the threads he was absently weaving together in his boredom to see both HyunJoong and YoungSaeng watching him. It was JungMin's turn to guide the caravan, and HyungJoon was fast asleep in a corner. No one had the heart to wake him.
"Er...alright?" KyuJong swallowed thickly, seeming to have an idea what they wanted to talk about. It was strange that they'd gone so long without asking.
"Are there any other humans alive?" YoungSaeng asked quietly. "We need you to be honest with us, KyuJong. HyunJoong's woven a spell around us so we will be able to tell if you're lying. We can protect you...but only you. I hope you understand that."
"I understand," KyuJong said, sighing and looking down at the floor. His fingers continued to play with the threads in his hands. "But you don't have anything to worry about. If there are other survivors, I know nothing about them."
YoungSaeng glanced at HyunJoong, but their leader just continued to look at KyuJong closely. "How did you survive so long, then?" the drow asked. "The hunt for human survivors ended 10 years ago."
KyuJong shifted slightly, leaning against the wall. "I wasn't always alone," he replied quietly. "There were two others with me. There used to be more...but they were caught and killed. We hid the best we could, taking turns sneaking into the villages for news every fortnight. It was tough because we couldn't really stay around the villages very long. The three of us took to hiding in ruins, since they were really the safest places for us. Very few nonhumans hung around the ruins...except for Healers like yourself, and we managed to avoid them."
"What happened to the other two?" YoungSaeng whispered.
The question brought a long silence, KyuJong staring at the floor. HyunJoong and YoungSaeng didn't speak, letting the human gather his thoughts.
"We...we couldn't look after ourselves very well. I was the youngest, but they were only two to four years older than me. They became ill." KyuJong's voice stuck in his throat. "There was no way we could find a doctor...they would recognize what we are right away. All we could do was try to treat it ourselves, with whatever knowledge we could gather. By some miracle I never caught it, the disease wasn't contagious...but it was deadly." Again he paused. "They died three years ago."
There was another long silence.
"And you've been alone ever since?" HyunJoong murmured.
KyuJong nodded. "I continued hiding in whatever ruins I came by, and sneaking into villages for information. I came by these ruins maybe...a week ago. Maybe longer, I lost track of time. At first I thought the dizziness and shortness of breath was just me catching a cold or something. It never even occurred to me that the place might be radioactive." He gave a lopsided smile. "Then that truck door fell on me and leaving stopped being an option."
YoungSaeng's gaze returned to HyunJoong again, the drow looking right past KyuJong. After a long moment, their leader nodded with a smile. "I see. Well, YoungSaeng is like a doctor in his own right, so we'll do our best to keep you healthy. And I'm sorry about your friends."
The human nodded, and closed his eyes. It wasn't long before he was asleep.
"He wasn't lying?" YoungSaeng whispered in Latin.
"Not a word," HyunJoong smiled. "He'll be just fine."
************************
"Guys! Guys, get out here and come see!"
HyungJoon's hollering from outside woke up three out of the four men sleeping inside the caravan. "What's going on?" JungMin called as KyuJong slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. YoungSaeng released a whine and curled up more around his tree. It was still the middle of the night.
"We're out! I see trees!"
JungMin and KyuJong exchanged glances, even YoungSaeng sitting up at that. Between the three of them they got HyunJoong up before jumping out of the caravan.
They had finally cleared the ruins, the forest stretching out in front of them a welcome sight. YoungSaeng immediately ran on unsteady feet to the nearest tree, the thinner branches reaching out to him before he'd even gotten within range.
"Finally, clean air," JungMin grinned, arms stretched out towards the night sky. Watching the redhead spin around in circles, KyuJong laughed when he span right into HyungJoon and they both fell over in a tangle of limbs.
Smiling at them all and rubbing his eyes tiredly, HyunJoong looked up at the sky. "So we head back inland, and once we've finished all the measurements we'll start to the nearest village and report in."
KyuJong shifted nervously at that. They looked back at the human.
"You kept your side of the agreement," HyunJoong said with a smile. "We'll do our best to hide you. Just listen to us carefully and you'll be safe, alright?"
The other man brightened and nodded, heaving a sigh of releif.
YoungSaeng turned back to them, eyes dancing as he disentangled himself from the tree. "There's a village not that far east of here, it's maybe two days after we clear the dead zone."
"Well then, let's get rolling!" HyungJoon whooped, jumping to his feet and hopping onto the driver's bench with three short clicks of his tongue. The other four had to hurry to either hop onto the bench or into the caravan as the horses started forward with renewed energy.
KyuJong and JungMin tried to climb in at the same time and their legs tangled, human and griffin falling over with twin yelps. HyunJoong, trying to get in after them as YoungSaeng had claimed the drivers bench with HyungJoon, burst into loud laughter as they tried and failed to disentangle themselves. JungMin, already clumsy with human legs rather than his griffin ones, ended up smushing his face against the other man's chest when he fell back down.
Attention caught by their leader's loud laughter, HyungJoon and YoungSaeng peeked around the caravan and stared before collapsing into giggle fits. JungMin was never living this down.
************************
"It's going to rain! Hurry, hurry!"
KyuJong scrambled back against the wall to get out of YoungSaeng's way as the hamadryad rushed back and forth, picking up the various plants inside the caravan and carrying them outside. He'd never seen the older man so excited before, his emerald eyes practically glowing.
"What's the rush?" he asked HyungJoon, who had taken up his spot in the corner as soon as the word 'rain' passed YoungSaeng's lips. The question was in clumsy Latin; they had started teaching him a few days ago so that he could pass as one of them if he was spoken to.
"We make sure his plants get enough water, but more often than not we have to use spells to get it since we can't really use up whatever water we have," HyungJoon shrugged. "The magicked water is alright, but hyung always jumps at a chance for the plants to get water naturally. It keeps them strong. Especially hyung's tree...the thing's so steeped in magic already, magicked water doesn't do much for it."
Nodding slowly, KyuJong watched as JungMin hopped into the caravan to help the hamadryad get everything outside. After a moment, he got up to help, picking up one of the small bushes and wincing. Damn, the pot was heavy. After a bit, HyungJoon got up and started to help as well. They could all feel the rain approaching, a cool breeze blowing through as the clouds overhead shifted.
The last pot had been placed on the ground when the sky opened about them, rain pouring down. HyungJoon and JungMin immediately ran into the caravan. KyuJong wondered if he was translating things wrong in his head, because he could have sworn JungMin shrieked something about wet feathers in Latin.
YoungSaeng spread his arms out wide, laughing as he spun around in place. The hamadryad looked so happy that KyuJong couldn't help but smile watching him, even as he hopped into the caravan after the other two.
The older man turned and smiled at him, emerald eyes peaceful, and KyuJong grinned back, legs drawn up to his chest as he listened to YoungSaeng sing in the rain, trying to imagine what the world would be like without small joys such as raindrops falling onto waiting skin.
**********************
It was five days before they reached the edge of the village. KyuJong was curled up in a corner of the caravan when they arrived, listening to the noises outside with wide eyes. None of them could blame him for the fear he showed; one wrong move would mean his death. Humans had lost their place in the world.
Before they reached the main square, JungMin guiding the caravan, the other three approached the rattled human. "Here's what we're going to do," YoungSaeng started quietly, sitting down in front of KyuJong. They were careful to pronounce their Latin clearly so that KyuJong had an easier time understanding.
"HyunJoong and I are going to report in with the Order. HyungJoon's going to watch the caravan, and you're going to go with JungMin to buy supplies."
KyuJong's eyes widened. "I can't stay here?"
HyungJoon shook his head. "We need two people for supplies, and we can't leave you with the caravan alone. It'll be fine, just be careful."
"Do you remember your cover?" HyunJoong asked, head tilted slightly to one side as he listened to everything outside.
The human slowly nodded. "I'm...a dreamwalker." It had taken them a while to come up with a race that would work, but portraying KyuJong as a dreamwalker worked for several reasons despite their rarity. Dreamwalkers were known for shying away from contact, and covering their faces during the day if they were even out at all. They spoke in whispers, and aside from swirling tattoos like galaxies under their skin and larger than normal eyes, they appeared human.
Best of all, no one spoke to a dreamwalker long during the day, because they were testy while the sun was up and all too keen to giving nightmares to anyone who ticked them off.
Nodding, HyunJoong sighed and motioned KyuJong to move closer. "Now just to get you looking like one for anyone who looks too closely..."
Swallowing thickly, KyuJong nodded and shifted closer to the drow before closing his eyes. HyungJoon and YoungSaeng watched with keen interest as the spell was cast, HyunJoong's hands hovering over KyuJong's face and chest. Whole solar systems and galaxies formed under the human's skin, moving slowly like the living gardens under YoungSaeng's. They framed his face and hands elegantly. When HyunJoong removed his hands and KyuJong opened his eyes, the doe-like orbs appeared a bit larger and more feminine than before, shifting shades of black, dark blue and dark purple within them.
"It's just an elaborate illusion," the drow explained as KyuJong looked down at his hands in amazement. "It'll wear off in ten hours, more than enough time for us to get out of here again. Don't forget to act as well," he warned. "Dreamwalkers are sleepy and easily aggrivated during the day. JungMin knows to pull you away before you have to go too far with the acting, so don't be afraid of snapping at anyone who you think would be testing YoungSaeng's patience at night."
"I'm not that bad," YoungSaeng protested.
"Says the person who hung me from that tree upside down for over an hour," grumbled HyungJoon, rubbing his sore ankles.
"You were squashing my plants, what do you expect?"
"See?" HyunJoong asked KyuJong with an amused grin, the human laughing quietly.
The caravan stopped, and a few seconds later JungMin swung himself in through the door. "We're he - Woah," he interrupted himself and stared as KyuJong blinked at him.
"Think it'll fool them?" HyunJoong asked with a smug smile as KyuJong pulled on the traveler's cloak, face quickly hidden under the hood until all they could see was a faint outline of the moving tattoos and his large eyes.
"As much as I'd love to wipe that smile from your face, it's pretty convincing," JungMin stated, grabbing a pack and slinging it over one shoulder. "Ready?"
They all looked to KyuJong, who paused and took a deep breath before nodding. "Ready," he replied in clear Latin. HyungJoon gave two thumbs up and YoungSaeng a reassuring smile. JungMin grinned at him and HyunJoong passed him a pack for supplies.
"Let's get going then."
***************************
The marketplace was alive this time of the day, merchants shouting their wares and children running around underfoot. It really was like everything had returned to medieval times...if you discounted the headsets, cellphones, and signs of technology everywhere. Even the nonhuman communities had grown accustomed to living the way the humans had, and found ways to include the new with the old.
What KyuJong found interesting was that everyone was still in a more-or-less human form. There were a few who resembled more animals than anything, mostly those who must have resided far from human influence, but the majority of those around walked on two legs, carried things with two hands, and bore human faces.
No one paid the hooded figure walking beside JungMin any attention, at the most a cursory glance before returning to whatever they were doing. KyuJong released a breath he'd been unconsciously holding.
JungMin grinned at him before heading over to a medicine hut. "We try to spare YoungSaeng the need to kill plants as much as possible," he chuckled. KyuJong nodded in understanding, recalling the tear tracks the hamadryad had returned with when he went to find medical herbs.
The medicine woman behind the counter haggled with JungMin a bit, while KyuJong hovered and rubbed at his eyes a little sleepily to keep up the image of an exhausted dreamwalker. After a bit of playful bickering JungMin was able to get them a good price, exchanging coins and bills for the herbs. They stuck the herbs in KyuJong's bag, and moved on.
Within the hour they had dried food, new bits for the horses, nails, and planks of wood to repair a damaged part of the caravan from the trek in the ruins. To KyuJong's surprise, JungMin wandered to the weapons next. "Why do we need these?" he asked cautiously as the redhead poked around.
"Because not all those we meet on the road are friendly," JungMin rolled his eyes. The weapons dealer was looking at them strangely thanks to KyuJong's question. The redhead made a show of smirking and leaning across the table to whisper "he's not exactly bright in the mornings" to the dwarf, who snickered behind his hand.
KyuJong realized then that pretending to be a dreamwalker had another perk...JungMin could dismiss anything he said as being half-asleep.
Still, he was supposed to be put out by the comment, so he gave the redhead the evil eye from beneath the hood and grumbled something in accented Latin before trying to stalk off. JungMin snagged the pack on his back, drawing him up short.
"Easy, tiger. We're here for you, remember?"
Turning around, KyuJong resisted the urge to stare at JungMin in confusion. They had never discussed the human getting a weapon.
Though he supposed it would make sense...the other four must have their own weapons somewhere, and if not they had their abilities to protect them. KyuJong was only human...he wouldn't stand much of a chance with his fists.
So he turned back to the weapons on display, lips pursed slightly. What should he get? What would help him the most in a fight?
Picking up a few of the swords, and putting them back down when they felt awkward in his hand, KyuJong tapped his fingers against the table in indecision. Bow and arrows was useless...he felt he would be able to aim a gun, but the Order was strictly against technological weapons. The swords felt too bulky, too slow. As a human, he needed all the speed he could get.
Eyes landing on a long, silver chain, he reached out and picked it up. Attached to one end was a sharp blade...lethal for sure. KyuJong picked it up from the table, testing it's weight. It seemed strong...and able to gather speed quickly if he were to start spinning it.
"Want to give it a try before you decide?" JungMin asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing at the dwarf. The shopkeeper nodded, motioning to an empty training ground behind the stalls.
At JungMin's urging, KyuJong stepped around the stall and onto the platform, looking around uneasily. No one was really watching, so he listened to the redhead's explanation of how to twist the bladeless end of the chain around his hand, and gather the other end to spin. Carefully KyuJong started to turn the chain in quick rotations, making sure not to catch himself on the dangerous blade.
It was awkward at first, KyuJong's heart in his throat as he expected to be stabbed by his own blade. Then he realized that the faster he span the chain, the more control he had, and it became less heart-stopping. He imagined the toy slingshot he used to have, and tried to picture himself using the momentum to shoot the blade straight at an enemy, or even wrap the chain around them. It wasn't that far-fetched, if he practiced.
"Not bad for a half-asleep dreamwalker," called a sarcastic voice that didn't belong to JungMin.
Startled, KyuJong stopped the swinging motion and had to duck when the blade nearly decapitated him, falling onto his rear. JungMin was beside him in an instant. "You alright?" the redhead murmured, helping him up off the ground.
There was a small group standing to one side watching them. The one who had spoken was a skinny felinefolk standing in the front, smirking as he watched them. KyuJong counted 4 young men in all.
"They're Healers like us," JungMin murmured, before straightening. "Yah, HeeChul, stop scaring our new recruits!"
"JungMin, of course," the felinefolk rolled his eyes. "Almost didn't recognize you standing on two legs, but no one else would be so lacking in manners."
KyuJong glanced at JungMin in confusion at that. Standing on two legs? But the redhead wasn't looking at him, and the human almost thought his skin was a shade paler before the other man threw a rock at the group, one that was avoided with laughter.
"Be nice, both of you. What brings you to this neck of the woods?" Asked the high elf standing beside the felinefolk called HeeChul, looking more than amused. "Wasn't your group on the other side of the peninsula?"
"We were. We came back. That was a month ago." JungMin shrugged.
"Who's he?" piped up a featherfolk at the back, standing on his toes to see KyuJong. "Uh oh, dreamwalker, if you get bad dreams tonight HeeChul we know why!"
"Shut up you," the felinefolk thwacked the other man off the head.
KyuJong shifted a little closer to JungMin, nervous. JungMin smiled at him before clapping one hand around the human's shoulders. "This is KyuJong, he's our new recruit. We kinda decided it would be best to bring him with me for market duty since, well...he'd fall asleep guarding the caravan and he's not in a sociable enough mood to report in without insulting someone."
"New recruits, great!" The featherfolk beamed happily at KyuJong. The human gave a shaky smile in return, made mysterious by the hood shadowing his face, and tried not to think about how each one of these seemingly all right men would kill him if they found out what he was.
There was a huge clamor for introductions then. HeeChul was introduced yet again, KyuJong already deciding he didn't like how the felinefolk watched him with a small smirk. The high elf was SiWon, the featherfolk JongWoon, and the quiet man in the back with no immediately distinguishable nonhuman features was RyeoWook.
"They're a huge caravan that deals with all the big issues," JungMin explained to KyuJong quietly. "There's 15 of them in all. Actually, they need three caravans for all of them."
Eyes widening, KyuJong had to hide his shock. 15? Wasn't that a bit much?
"It's been a while since we've all been in the same village!" HeeChul grinned. "Consider yourselves booked for the night, and tell HyunJoong if he's not awake when we visit, we're rolling him into the lake."
JungMin snorted. "Good luck. He's started clinging in his sleep, so you'll probably go in with him." He kept his arm firmly around KyuJong's shoulders like a security blanket. "We're going to head back now, and make sure all the safety precautions have been met before you set the caravan on fire."
"That was only once!" HeeChul called after them as JungMin brought KyuJong to pay for the weapon, the human coiling it up and slinging it carefully over his shoulder. He could still hear the loud laughter as they walked back towards where they'd left the caravan.
"We're staying here?" KyuJong asked quietly past the lump in his throat.
"Looks like it," JungMin sighed. "If we don't, HeeChul will take a fit next time we run into them. You'll have to keep those spells up a little longer."
The human nodded, drawing in a shaky breath. It had been alright so far...but the cover of being sleepy and grouchy during the day wouldn't extend to the night, and he couldn't get rid of the twisting feeling in his stomach.
Neither of them realized JungMin had yet to remove his arm from around the other man's shoulders.
Fandom: SS501 (appearances by Super Junior)
Pairings: KyuMin, 2HJ, 2YS, friendship!KyuSaeng, friendship!MinSaeng
Total Word Count: 33, 000
Chapters: 3/7 + Epilogue
Rating: PG-16
Warnings: Post-Apocalyptic themes, violence
Genre: Adventure, Romance, and a bit of Crack stirred in
Prompt: "A kiss is a lovely trick, designed by nature, to stop words when speech becomes superfluous."
Summary: 40 years after humankind was deemed to have lost one chance too many, the world is still struggling to recover from the effects of the Last War. With humans now exist after being systematically wiped out, and the powerful Order overlooking all, it looked like they would finally be able live in peace. That was before a small caravan of Healers discover something in the ruins that will turn their views on atonement and suffering for the sins of the past upside down.
A/N: This is for my bestie forever, ziippers <3 Originally a one-shot, that idea kinda...died. I'm so sorry, it hardly even relates to the prompt or anything anymore @.@;;; Hope you still like it anyways? <3 /sheepish/ Updates will be every two days. Thank you to the always amazing curionenene for betaing, ILYBB~~~ <3333
The spells on the caravan were strengthened again, and the group continued their trek through the ruins. The following morning brought them through what must have been an old playground. Despite the fact that it was HyunJoong's turn to guide the caravan and KyuJong was still recovering from his first long stint in the toxic ruins, the human joined their leader out on the driver's bench.
"I'm not all that sure you're okay to be out here," HyunJoong said, eyeing KyuJong.
The human smiled a little shakily. "Probably not...but I just wanted to look. It's...sad."
The drow nodded, eyes catching on the twisted remains of a swingset. The ghost playground was hard to bear, imagining those who had died here, all the children.
It was a relief that they couldn't see any bodies, but that didn't mean they weren't there.
"I used to live in Seoul," HyunJoong admitted.
KyuJong looked over at him. "Really?" He frowned. "It's...a little disorientating, considering you look my age, but I suppose I should be used to other races living longer by now."
"You should," the other man chuckled. "Even Joonie is older than you, and he's a child by our standards."
Nodding slowly, KyuJong looked out across the ruins again. "What was Seoul like?" he asked quietly.
"Amazing. Even though compared to today's world, it was ridiculously overpopulated and polluted...truth was, Seoul was one of the better places in the world before the war. It was a nice mix of technology and nature, and there was plenty of trees and plants. It's no wonder why so many nonhumans chose to make Seoul their home."
"Did the bombing wipe out many nonhumans as well?" KyuJong questioned.
"Of course. Plenty of our kin were in Seoul and Incheon when they hit. Although...not as much as there would have been. By the time these particular bombs hit, the Order had started to rise up and erase the human militaries. Humans became aware of our existence, and they weren't very...welcoming to any nonhuman found in their cities."
KyuJong's eyes closed. "So you were chased out?"
HyunJoong nodded. "It wasn't long before the police inspected the neighborhood I was living in. My family and I barely made it out of the city in time...if we had stayed for merely hours longer, we would have been exposed. Not all the nonhumans living there were so lucky. Many were captured, killed...and then the ones who still managed to stay hidden inside the city were wiped out when the bombs hit anyways." The drow shook his head with a sigh.
"Such a waste of life," KyuJong whispered. "On all sides."
Silence fell between them. HyunJoong was just about to suggest KyuJong go back inside the caravan before the radioactivity could cause him to relapse when the human suddenly sat up straight, gaze focused on something. Then he hopped off the driver's seat, landing in the ashes and walking across the playground.
"KyuJong," HyunJoong called warningly. "If you get yourself stuck under anything else we're not getting you back out." Even though he knew they would regardless.
The human stopped a bit off to one side, crouching down in the ashes next to what must have been a plastic slide, melted into horrific shapes by the heat of the bombs. He paused there for a moment, then got up and headed back to the caravan.
HyunJoong looked at him with one eyebrow raised as the human hopped back onto the driver's bench next to him, the horses snorting in annoyance at the human's movement.
KyuJong held something in his hands, turning it over between his fingers. When the other man's hand moved, HyunJoong could make out a tiny hairpin that could have belonged to a very young girl. The design was half-melted, but the pin itself was metal and had survived. It looked like some sort of cartoon character, though HyunJoong couldn't have been sure.
The image of a child, perhaps in her first year of elementary school, flashed through his mind. She would tuck the pin into her hair, probably the wrong way, and need it fixed by her mother before she was sent out the door to school. There were promises to pick her up at the park after classes, perhaps treat her to patbingsu.
Only she never made it that far.
HyunJoong slowly tilted his head back, looking up at the sky overhead and swallowing past the lump in his throat. He said nothing as KyuJong tucked the pin into his shirt pocket.
************************
"I think it's time we talked."
KyuJong looked up from the threads he was absently weaving together in his boredom to see both HyunJoong and YoungSaeng watching him. It was JungMin's turn to guide the caravan, and HyungJoon was fast asleep in a corner. No one had the heart to wake him.
"Er...alright?" KyuJong swallowed thickly, seeming to have an idea what they wanted to talk about. It was strange that they'd gone so long without asking.
"Are there any other humans alive?" YoungSaeng asked quietly. "We need you to be honest with us, KyuJong. HyunJoong's woven a spell around us so we will be able to tell if you're lying. We can protect you...but only you. I hope you understand that."
"I understand," KyuJong said, sighing and looking down at the floor. His fingers continued to play with the threads in his hands. "But you don't have anything to worry about. If there are other survivors, I know nothing about them."
YoungSaeng glanced at HyunJoong, but their leader just continued to look at KyuJong closely. "How did you survive so long, then?" the drow asked. "The hunt for human survivors ended 10 years ago."
KyuJong shifted slightly, leaning against the wall. "I wasn't always alone," he replied quietly. "There were two others with me. There used to be more...but they were caught and killed. We hid the best we could, taking turns sneaking into the villages for news every fortnight. It was tough because we couldn't really stay around the villages very long. The three of us took to hiding in ruins, since they were really the safest places for us. Very few nonhumans hung around the ruins...except for Healers like yourself, and we managed to avoid them."
"What happened to the other two?" YoungSaeng whispered.
The question brought a long silence, KyuJong staring at the floor. HyunJoong and YoungSaeng didn't speak, letting the human gather his thoughts.
"We...we couldn't look after ourselves very well. I was the youngest, but they were only two to four years older than me. They became ill." KyuJong's voice stuck in his throat. "There was no way we could find a doctor...they would recognize what we are right away. All we could do was try to treat it ourselves, with whatever knowledge we could gather. By some miracle I never caught it, the disease wasn't contagious...but it was deadly." Again he paused. "They died three years ago."
There was another long silence.
"And you've been alone ever since?" HyunJoong murmured.
KyuJong nodded. "I continued hiding in whatever ruins I came by, and sneaking into villages for information. I came by these ruins maybe...a week ago. Maybe longer, I lost track of time. At first I thought the dizziness and shortness of breath was just me catching a cold or something. It never even occurred to me that the place might be radioactive." He gave a lopsided smile. "Then that truck door fell on me and leaving stopped being an option."
YoungSaeng's gaze returned to HyunJoong again, the drow looking right past KyuJong. After a long moment, their leader nodded with a smile. "I see. Well, YoungSaeng is like a doctor in his own right, so we'll do our best to keep you healthy. And I'm sorry about your friends."
The human nodded, and closed his eyes. It wasn't long before he was asleep.
"He wasn't lying?" YoungSaeng whispered in Latin.
"Not a word," HyunJoong smiled. "He'll be just fine."
************************
"Guys! Guys, get out here and come see!"
HyungJoon's hollering from outside woke up three out of the four men sleeping inside the caravan. "What's going on?" JungMin called as KyuJong slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. YoungSaeng released a whine and curled up more around his tree. It was still the middle of the night.
"We're out! I see trees!"
JungMin and KyuJong exchanged glances, even YoungSaeng sitting up at that. Between the three of them they got HyunJoong up before jumping out of the caravan.
They had finally cleared the ruins, the forest stretching out in front of them a welcome sight. YoungSaeng immediately ran on unsteady feet to the nearest tree, the thinner branches reaching out to him before he'd even gotten within range.
"Finally, clean air," JungMin grinned, arms stretched out towards the night sky. Watching the redhead spin around in circles, KyuJong laughed when he span right into HyungJoon and they both fell over in a tangle of limbs.
Smiling at them all and rubbing his eyes tiredly, HyunJoong looked up at the sky. "So we head back inland, and once we've finished all the measurements we'll start to the nearest village and report in."
KyuJong shifted nervously at that. They looked back at the human.
"You kept your side of the agreement," HyunJoong said with a smile. "We'll do our best to hide you. Just listen to us carefully and you'll be safe, alright?"
The other man brightened and nodded, heaving a sigh of releif.
YoungSaeng turned back to them, eyes dancing as he disentangled himself from the tree. "There's a village not that far east of here, it's maybe two days after we clear the dead zone."
"Well then, let's get rolling!" HyungJoon whooped, jumping to his feet and hopping onto the driver's bench with three short clicks of his tongue. The other four had to hurry to either hop onto the bench or into the caravan as the horses started forward with renewed energy.
KyuJong and JungMin tried to climb in at the same time and their legs tangled, human and griffin falling over with twin yelps. HyunJoong, trying to get in after them as YoungSaeng had claimed the drivers bench with HyungJoon, burst into loud laughter as they tried and failed to disentangle themselves. JungMin, already clumsy with human legs rather than his griffin ones, ended up smushing his face against the other man's chest when he fell back down.
Attention caught by their leader's loud laughter, HyungJoon and YoungSaeng peeked around the caravan and stared before collapsing into giggle fits. JungMin was never living this down.
************************
"It's going to rain! Hurry, hurry!"
KyuJong scrambled back against the wall to get out of YoungSaeng's way as the hamadryad rushed back and forth, picking up the various plants inside the caravan and carrying them outside. He'd never seen the older man so excited before, his emerald eyes practically glowing.
"What's the rush?" he asked HyungJoon, who had taken up his spot in the corner as soon as the word 'rain' passed YoungSaeng's lips. The question was in clumsy Latin; they had started teaching him a few days ago so that he could pass as one of them if he was spoken to.
"We make sure his plants get enough water, but more often than not we have to use spells to get it since we can't really use up whatever water we have," HyungJoon shrugged. "The magicked water is alright, but hyung always jumps at a chance for the plants to get water naturally. It keeps them strong. Especially hyung's tree...the thing's so steeped in magic already, magicked water doesn't do much for it."
Nodding slowly, KyuJong watched as JungMin hopped into the caravan to help the hamadryad get everything outside. After a moment, he got up to help, picking up one of the small bushes and wincing. Damn, the pot was heavy. After a bit, HyungJoon got up and started to help as well. They could all feel the rain approaching, a cool breeze blowing through as the clouds overhead shifted.
The last pot had been placed on the ground when the sky opened about them, rain pouring down. HyungJoon and JungMin immediately ran into the caravan. KyuJong wondered if he was translating things wrong in his head, because he could have sworn JungMin shrieked something about wet feathers in Latin.
YoungSaeng spread his arms out wide, laughing as he spun around in place. The hamadryad looked so happy that KyuJong couldn't help but smile watching him, even as he hopped into the caravan after the other two.
The older man turned and smiled at him, emerald eyes peaceful, and KyuJong grinned back, legs drawn up to his chest as he listened to YoungSaeng sing in the rain, trying to imagine what the world would be like without small joys such as raindrops falling onto waiting skin.
**********************
It was five days before they reached the edge of the village. KyuJong was curled up in a corner of the caravan when they arrived, listening to the noises outside with wide eyes. None of them could blame him for the fear he showed; one wrong move would mean his death. Humans had lost their place in the world.
Before they reached the main square, JungMin guiding the caravan, the other three approached the rattled human. "Here's what we're going to do," YoungSaeng started quietly, sitting down in front of KyuJong. They were careful to pronounce their Latin clearly so that KyuJong had an easier time understanding.
"HyunJoong and I are going to report in with the Order. HyungJoon's going to watch the caravan, and you're going to go with JungMin to buy supplies."
KyuJong's eyes widened. "I can't stay here?"
HyungJoon shook his head. "We need two people for supplies, and we can't leave you with the caravan alone. It'll be fine, just be careful."
"Do you remember your cover?" HyunJoong asked, head tilted slightly to one side as he listened to everything outside.
The human slowly nodded. "I'm...a dreamwalker." It had taken them a while to come up with a race that would work, but portraying KyuJong as a dreamwalker worked for several reasons despite their rarity. Dreamwalkers were known for shying away from contact, and covering their faces during the day if they were even out at all. They spoke in whispers, and aside from swirling tattoos like galaxies under their skin and larger than normal eyes, they appeared human.
Best of all, no one spoke to a dreamwalker long during the day, because they were testy while the sun was up and all too keen to giving nightmares to anyone who ticked them off.
Nodding, HyunJoong sighed and motioned KyuJong to move closer. "Now just to get you looking like one for anyone who looks too closely..."
Swallowing thickly, KyuJong nodded and shifted closer to the drow before closing his eyes. HyungJoon and YoungSaeng watched with keen interest as the spell was cast, HyunJoong's hands hovering over KyuJong's face and chest. Whole solar systems and galaxies formed under the human's skin, moving slowly like the living gardens under YoungSaeng's. They framed his face and hands elegantly. When HyunJoong removed his hands and KyuJong opened his eyes, the doe-like orbs appeared a bit larger and more feminine than before, shifting shades of black, dark blue and dark purple within them.
"It's just an elaborate illusion," the drow explained as KyuJong looked down at his hands in amazement. "It'll wear off in ten hours, more than enough time for us to get out of here again. Don't forget to act as well," he warned. "Dreamwalkers are sleepy and easily aggrivated during the day. JungMin knows to pull you away before you have to go too far with the acting, so don't be afraid of snapping at anyone who you think would be testing YoungSaeng's patience at night."
"I'm not that bad," YoungSaeng protested.
"Says the person who hung me from that tree upside down for over an hour," grumbled HyungJoon, rubbing his sore ankles.
"You were squashing my plants, what do you expect?"
"See?" HyunJoong asked KyuJong with an amused grin, the human laughing quietly.
The caravan stopped, and a few seconds later JungMin swung himself in through the door. "We're he - Woah," he interrupted himself and stared as KyuJong blinked at him.
"Think it'll fool them?" HyunJoong asked with a smug smile as KyuJong pulled on the traveler's cloak, face quickly hidden under the hood until all they could see was a faint outline of the moving tattoos and his large eyes.
"As much as I'd love to wipe that smile from your face, it's pretty convincing," JungMin stated, grabbing a pack and slinging it over one shoulder. "Ready?"
They all looked to KyuJong, who paused and took a deep breath before nodding. "Ready," he replied in clear Latin. HyungJoon gave two thumbs up and YoungSaeng a reassuring smile. JungMin grinned at him and HyunJoong passed him a pack for supplies.
"Let's get going then."
***************************
The marketplace was alive this time of the day, merchants shouting their wares and children running around underfoot. It really was like everything had returned to medieval times...if you discounted the headsets, cellphones, and signs of technology everywhere. Even the nonhuman communities had grown accustomed to living the way the humans had, and found ways to include the new with the old.
What KyuJong found interesting was that everyone was still in a more-or-less human form. There were a few who resembled more animals than anything, mostly those who must have resided far from human influence, but the majority of those around walked on two legs, carried things with two hands, and bore human faces.
No one paid the hooded figure walking beside JungMin any attention, at the most a cursory glance before returning to whatever they were doing. KyuJong released a breath he'd been unconsciously holding.
JungMin grinned at him before heading over to a medicine hut. "We try to spare YoungSaeng the need to kill plants as much as possible," he chuckled. KyuJong nodded in understanding, recalling the tear tracks the hamadryad had returned with when he went to find medical herbs.
The medicine woman behind the counter haggled with JungMin a bit, while KyuJong hovered and rubbed at his eyes a little sleepily to keep up the image of an exhausted dreamwalker. After a bit of playful bickering JungMin was able to get them a good price, exchanging coins and bills for the herbs. They stuck the herbs in KyuJong's bag, and moved on.
Within the hour they had dried food, new bits for the horses, nails, and planks of wood to repair a damaged part of the caravan from the trek in the ruins. To KyuJong's surprise, JungMin wandered to the weapons next. "Why do we need these?" he asked cautiously as the redhead poked around.
"Because not all those we meet on the road are friendly," JungMin rolled his eyes. The weapons dealer was looking at them strangely thanks to KyuJong's question. The redhead made a show of smirking and leaning across the table to whisper "he's not exactly bright in the mornings" to the dwarf, who snickered behind his hand.
KyuJong realized then that pretending to be a dreamwalker had another perk...JungMin could dismiss anything he said as being half-asleep.
Still, he was supposed to be put out by the comment, so he gave the redhead the evil eye from beneath the hood and grumbled something in accented Latin before trying to stalk off. JungMin snagged the pack on his back, drawing him up short.
"Easy, tiger. We're here for you, remember?"
Turning around, KyuJong resisted the urge to stare at JungMin in confusion. They had never discussed the human getting a weapon.
Though he supposed it would make sense...the other four must have their own weapons somewhere, and if not they had their abilities to protect them. KyuJong was only human...he wouldn't stand much of a chance with his fists.
So he turned back to the weapons on display, lips pursed slightly. What should he get? What would help him the most in a fight?
Picking up a few of the swords, and putting them back down when they felt awkward in his hand, KyuJong tapped his fingers against the table in indecision. Bow and arrows was useless...he felt he would be able to aim a gun, but the Order was strictly against technological weapons. The swords felt too bulky, too slow. As a human, he needed all the speed he could get.
Eyes landing on a long, silver chain, he reached out and picked it up. Attached to one end was a sharp blade...lethal for sure. KyuJong picked it up from the table, testing it's weight. It seemed strong...and able to gather speed quickly if he were to start spinning it.
"Want to give it a try before you decide?" JungMin asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing at the dwarf. The shopkeeper nodded, motioning to an empty training ground behind the stalls.
At JungMin's urging, KyuJong stepped around the stall and onto the platform, looking around uneasily. No one was really watching, so he listened to the redhead's explanation of how to twist the bladeless end of the chain around his hand, and gather the other end to spin. Carefully KyuJong started to turn the chain in quick rotations, making sure not to catch himself on the dangerous blade.
It was awkward at first, KyuJong's heart in his throat as he expected to be stabbed by his own blade. Then he realized that the faster he span the chain, the more control he had, and it became less heart-stopping. He imagined the toy slingshot he used to have, and tried to picture himself using the momentum to shoot the blade straight at an enemy, or even wrap the chain around them. It wasn't that far-fetched, if he practiced.
"Not bad for a half-asleep dreamwalker," called a sarcastic voice that didn't belong to JungMin.
Startled, KyuJong stopped the swinging motion and had to duck when the blade nearly decapitated him, falling onto his rear. JungMin was beside him in an instant. "You alright?" the redhead murmured, helping him up off the ground.
There was a small group standing to one side watching them. The one who had spoken was a skinny felinefolk standing in the front, smirking as he watched them. KyuJong counted 4 young men in all.
"They're Healers like us," JungMin murmured, before straightening. "Yah, HeeChul, stop scaring our new recruits!"
"JungMin, of course," the felinefolk rolled his eyes. "Almost didn't recognize you standing on two legs, but no one else would be so lacking in manners."
KyuJong glanced at JungMin in confusion at that. Standing on two legs? But the redhead wasn't looking at him, and the human almost thought his skin was a shade paler before the other man threw a rock at the group, one that was avoided with laughter.
"Be nice, both of you. What brings you to this neck of the woods?" Asked the high elf standing beside the felinefolk called HeeChul, looking more than amused. "Wasn't your group on the other side of the peninsula?"
"We were. We came back. That was a month ago." JungMin shrugged.
"Who's he?" piped up a featherfolk at the back, standing on his toes to see KyuJong. "Uh oh, dreamwalker, if you get bad dreams tonight HeeChul we know why!"
"Shut up you," the felinefolk thwacked the other man off the head.
KyuJong shifted a little closer to JungMin, nervous. JungMin smiled at him before clapping one hand around the human's shoulders. "This is KyuJong, he's our new recruit. We kinda decided it would be best to bring him with me for market duty since, well...he'd fall asleep guarding the caravan and he's not in a sociable enough mood to report in without insulting someone."
"New recruits, great!" The featherfolk beamed happily at KyuJong. The human gave a shaky smile in return, made mysterious by the hood shadowing his face, and tried not to think about how each one of these seemingly all right men would kill him if they found out what he was.
There was a huge clamor for introductions then. HeeChul was introduced yet again, KyuJong already deciding he didn't like how the felinefolk watched him with a small smirk. The high elf was SiWon, the featherfolk JongWoon, and the quiet man in the back with no immediately distinguishable nonhuman features was RyeoWook.
"They're a huge caravan that deals with all the big issues," JungMin explained to KyuJong quietly. "There's 15 of them in all. Actually, they need three caravans for all of them."
Eyes widening, KyuJong had to hide his shock. 15? Wasn't that a bit much?
"It's been a while since we've all been in the same village!" HeeChul grinned. "Consider yourselves booked for the night, and tell HyunJoong if he's not awake when we visit, we're rolling him into the lake."
JungMin snorted. "Good luck. He's started clinging in his sleep, so you'll probably go in with him." He kept his arm firmly around KyuJong's shoulders like a security blanket. "We're going to head back now, and make sure all the safety precautions have been met before you set the caravan on fire."
"That was only once!" HeeChul called after them as JungMin brought KyuJong to pay for the weapon, the human coiling it up and slinging it carefully over his shoulder. He could still hear the loud laughter as they walked back towards where they'd left the caravan.
"We're staying here?" KyuJong asked quietly past the lump in his throat.
"Looks like it," JungMin sighed. "If we don't, HeeChul will take a fit next time we run into them. You'll have to keep those spells up a little longer."
The human nodded, drawing in a shaky breath. It had been alright so far...but the cover of being sleepy and grouchy during the day wouldn't extend to the night, and he couldn't get rid of the twisting feeling in his stomach.
Neither of them realized JungMin had yet to remove his arm from around the other man's shoulders.